Hey RR,
Could be, since Hobie is always upgrading and trying new things to improve their boats. But I have not noticed any differences myself between the paddles of my OB (early '04 purchase) and my Sport (July '05 purchase). Matt, however, would probably know if there had been a more recent change in paddle design. Hobie, however, has re-designed their Mirage drive fins or "sails", and an upgrade kit may be available in a few months for those who are so inclined.

Mine must be by Cannon, then. I'm no expert, but I've been pretty happy with it. I recently ordered the new Adventure and guess it will probably come with the Bending Branches model. My only concern is that it might not take as large of "bite" during the stroke.

It's probably no big deal, since I prefer to pedal anyway. But I do get the paddle out for the exercise (usually on a downwind leg).

Apalach, I do plan to get those new fins when they become available; too bad they can't be specified on any of the new drive units (it's kind of wasteful to have to remove a brand new set of fins and re-purchase the larger ones)!! Maybe Hobie will reconsider offering a "megafin" option on the Mirage drive itself??

Yep RR,
I'm leaning in that direction myself, depending on the price. I was trying to figure out a possible cost for the upgrade kit just yesterday myself, and came up with a possible price. But, I think I will keep it to myself for the time being to see what Hobie finally decides--don't want to give them any "bad" ideas.

I may be wrong on this, but at one time I seem to recall that one of the motivating factors for the longer Mirage drive fins was to complement the new Adventure. Thus, the BigA would come with the new Mirage drive as standard. But it took longer than Hobie anticipated to find the correct material for the new longer fins, and they were not able to meet the deadline for the intro of the BigA. But, no matter, it should still be a trip and a half to plug the new Mirage drive into my Sport and watch that baby get up on a plane!